For most of my adult life (read: since I moved out of my parent's house), I've found myself doing a weekend-long household cleaning every couple of months.
Similarly, cooking once a week with the meal plans also helps cut down on the dirty pots and pans during the work week.
I can't begin to put into words how much I love waking up and not having dirty dishes in my sink or that when it's time to cook — I can just cook. I don't need to clean pots and pans first or scrub dishes so we have something to eat dinner on. My tools are ready for me.
Second, I do laundry two nights per week. No exceptions. One night is colored clothes, the other night is linens and whites. I fold the clothes/linens while I watch TV (I've paired my laundry nights with nights my shows are on). This way, I never have to waste a Saturday or Sunday doing load after load after load because I've exhausted my entire closest. It's become such a habit now that it doesn't even bother me to do laundry more frequently.
I have other "quick" chores on the other days. For example, I wipe down all of our surfaces (i.e., table, kitchen counter, bathroom counter) after dinner but before bed one night a week. It takes 8 minutes, or less. Other nights I dust, vacuum and mop.
Since Scott & I tend to go out on Saturday and stay in on Friday, I do my bathroom chores on Friday night. Not the most exciting Friday night, I admit, but at least that way it won't hang over me on the weekend. When we had two bathrooms, I alternated between them week to week. One week, I'd clean the one bathroom, the next week I'd clean the other bathroom. Now we only have one and a half baths, so I can do both at the same time.
My minimalist cleaning schedule looks like this:
S: Whites and linens (laundry)
M: Wipe surfaces
T: Vacuum
W: Mop
Th: Colored clothes (laundry)
F: Clean the bathrooms
S: Dust
It took some diligence at first, but now I'm into the habit and it doesn't take me that long. The result is our house stays very clean — that good clean feeling we both loved. A guest could call saying they'll be here tomorrow, and I won't feel like I need to clean my house or prepare for their arrival outside of blowing up the air mattress for them.
I also try to slip in little bouts of cleaning when I can. For example, I often clean my shower when I'm in it — especially if I'm taking a longer shower because I'm, say, shaving my legs. I can let the cleaner soak into the tile while I shave, then rinse it off after I'm done. It only adds a few more minutes.
To be entirely transparent, I must confess that this minimalist cleaning schedule doesn't take care of everything. Scott and I will still need to do some big "spring cleanings" at least twice a year, such as vacuuming under the couch, washing the windows, dusting ceiling fans, and cleaning out all our cabinets — but overall, we'll never waste a weekend day doing a big "maintenance" cleaning again. Breaking it down into little segments and doing it every week (and every day) keeps the workload even less.
Now that's the best kind of minimalist!